Barclays Premier League

The past couple of Saturdays, we've been getting up to watch soccer - and it's so fun. ESPN has been showing a match from the Barclays Premier League (club soccer from England). The teams are all about 100 years old and have incredible crests and fabulous sayings - like Liverpool's "You'll Never Walk Alone." Chelsea seems to always be one of the best. I like Arsenal because they usually have one or two of my Dutch players on the team. And Tony likes Blackpool because they're really bad but have great fans. Tune in Saturday morning!

More Bright Star

When I watched Bright Star last week, I "grabbed" some shots. I really love movies that are visually inspiring. I loved Fanny Brawne's (Abbie Cornish's) clothes. I also loved the furniture and architectural details. I would love to have this bedroom (in the first shot) - the curtains, the chair, the mirror...

Friday Featured Art: America Windows

Marc Chagall's America Windows are one of the most recognizable aspects of the Art Institute. (They were featured prominently in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.) They've been undergoing some extensive renovations, but they are schedule to be on display again soon!

Thursday Text: Bright Star

I recently watched Bright Star again. I really, really love it. (Even though it is heartbreaking.) So today's text is John Keats' poem from which the title was taken.

Bright star, would I were stedfast as though art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

Colin and Justin's Home Heist

A show that I like to catch on BBC America is Colin and Justin's Home Heist. On the show, these two designers take over and make over homes in Canada. They're pretty silly, but I like to see the end result (see below).

Flowers

I have decided that I can squeeze $5 out of the grocery budget each week for some fresh flowers. These roses are from WalMart - can you believe it? I bought the vase at a yard sale for either 25 or 50 cents, so the whole arrangement was rather inexpensive. (I went to get some more yesterday, and they didn't really have anything - I'll have to try again next week!)

NieNie's Basement

I just realized that Friday's post was my 500th. Hooray! So, did you see the remodel of NieNie's basement by Alice Lane? I really love this mirror - and the built-in bookcases.

Friday Featured Art: The Elgin Marbles

Beginning Monday I'll be taking two art history classes. I'm very excited. Today's featured art is a classic piece - literally. The Elgin Marbles are sculptures taken from the Parthenon during the early 1800s and transported to London. They are now part of the permanent collection at the British Museum. The museum is incredible, but the marbles were really one of my favorite things that we saw there last summer (when I took this picture).

Thursday Tunes: George Strait

Lately I've been listening to the George Strait 50 Number Ones CD. It's a great way to make the transition from summer to fall (which I'm sure will take another two months...). I really love George. This CD brings me memories of the last 15 years. Check Yes Or No makes me think of my high school boyfriend who was a cowboy and wished that he was George Strait. Carrying Your Love With Me marks the time when my late husband and I were dating and he went to Tennessee on his mission. And Run is a song that my husband Tony and I really love. Check it out here.

License Plates, Part 3

OK - I promise I'll stop with the license plates after this post, but I had to submit these three for your consideration. I like the character of Montana's, and I like that Alabama's says "Sweet Home Alabama."

Scones

Until our recent trip to Utah, I did not realize how much of a regional recipe fried scones are. Various restaurants that we went to offered scones with a meal or as a dessert. They're usually served with honey butter and are delicious.

Here's a link to instructions for making them using frozen roll dough:

http://saltlakecity.about.com/od/diningnightlife/r/Mormon-Scones-Recipe.htm

Daybreak

Sorry for not posting on Friday! We were in Utah for a week, and now we're home and trying to put things back in order. Development in Utah is usually at a breakneck speed, and it's rather distressing to us because we grew up with lots of pristine open space. One of the things that we really love, though, is the Daybreak development. We love the interesting homes with their large porches and garages in the back. We also love that Daybreak has walking trails and a pond and great landscaping. If we lived in Utah (and had a lot of money), that's where we would live.

Thursday Tunes: Symphonicities

Sting has a new album out on the Deutsche Grammophon label. It's called Symphonicities and is a collection of songs by Sting and the Police set to instrumentation by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. I can't wait to pick up a copy! Sample it here.

Zipcar

Have you heard of Zipcars? We've seen a couple around, and I think it's a fabulous idea. There's an application fee and an annual fee, but no monthly fees. Whenever you need a car, you reserve one and then rates start at $6-7 per hour. That includes gas and insurance! So far they're only available in big cities, but if I lived close enough to one I would love to ditch my old car (and all of the money that goes into it).

Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

Have you tried the popcorn from Popcorn, Indiana? Tony picked me up from a meeting the other day and had a bag of a new flavor - cinnamon sugar kettle corn. It was fantastic! We couldn't stop eating it...

Eisenhower Silver Dollars

As part of our summer organization project, I put all of my collected coins into a binder. It's rather heavy now because I included all of my Eisenhower silver dollars. Every Easter growing up, our grandpa would offer us the choice of two silver dollars or a chocolate cream egg from Mrs. Cavanaugh's. For many years I took the dollars - and then one of my sisters and I figured out that we could share and get a dollar and half an egg! (I still ended up with about 34 of the Eisenhowers...)

Friday Featured Art: The Power of Suggestion

Joe is part of a new show called The Power of Suggestion opening today at the Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Oregon. I love the new works - especially the ones with beautiful blue skies and the ones with farm implements (because I live in the Midwest where it's all about farming).

Thursday Text: Rilke

We've been cleaning out some files and boxes around our house, and in the process I've found some lovely cards and letters from my husband.

One included this poem by Rilke:

Understand, I’ll slip quietly
away from the noisy crowd
when I see the pale
stars rising, blooming over the oaks.

I’ll pursue solitary pathways
through the pale twilit meadows,
with only this one dream:
You come too.

Everyday Mary Jane Trekkers

I bought these Mary Janes on closeout from Lands' End for $13. They are my shoes to wear around the house while I'm doing my chores so that my feet don't hurt at the end of the day from going barefoot. I bought a khaki pair last year and loved them so much that I started wearing them outside - so I needed a new inside pair. One of the cool things about them is that the insole board contains 70% recycled content, 80% of which is from recycled plastic bottles!

Coasters

We need some new coasters - they are definitely necessary when you live in the humid Midwest. Here's some I found on Etsy that I think could do the trick. 1.) Lucky Bee Press 2., 3.) Joie Letterpress 4.) Ruby Press

Key Largo

We caught Key Largo on TV the other day. It was great. Lauren Bacall was tiny and looked like she was about 19. She is beautiful, and I really love the classic (modest) styles of the '40s.